


Flicker (subject to change)

by regretsgalore



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Allura, Disney store, F/M, Keith works at Disney, Lance works at a Fro-Yo place, Lance's family - Freeform, M/M, Minor Hunk/Shay, Minor Matt Holt/Shiro, Minor Relationships, Multi, Mutual Pining, PINING KEITH, Seems like memes and fluff but whoo boi u in for a treat I have so much angst prepared, Slow Burn, Trans Keith (Voltron), Whoo Boi, a lot of texting, keith is lactose intolerant, pining lance, probably, this first chapter actually sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-08-20 14:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regretsgalore/pseuds/regretsgalore
Summary: The Disney Store AU nobody asked for (ft. Frozen Yogurt shop) 
(2:47 AM)Lance-A-Lot: I just realized the Disney Store uniforms look like flight attendant outfits 
(2:50 AM)Hunky Monkey: Why are you like this





	1. Piggyback Ride

**Author's Note:**

> In which Klaizap wants a piggyback ride.

Lance McClain was very much his nieces' and nephews' favorite uncle. Of course he was. There was no way he wasn't. He was a cool uncle, and they all adored him for his soft hair and funny jokes.

The best part about Lance, to his nieces and nephews who were in middle school now, was that he cursed a lot when he had his friends over. These little kids would laugh their asses off when Lance cursed, and their mother would smack the backside of Lance's head for cursing, and her kids' heads for encouraging him.

The kids also adored Lance's friends. Sofia, Lance's little sister, loved Hunk with a burning passion. When Hunk came over, which was often, the little girl would shriek, rushing over to greet him with a hug. Lance's older siblings took a liking to Pidge, who was known for keeping Lance in check when necessary, which was often. The little kids liked Pidge too. They would sit around them as they fixed their broken toys and made new ones. Hunk would help, usually with the broken toys.

Lance was the kind of uncle (and big brother) who would get gifts for any occasion. Got a B on your spelling test? Have a Build-A-Bear! Anytime he saw something he thought a relative would like, he would instantly buy it, which is what will lead him to his unfortunate emotional demise.

And this, all these little things that have been pointed out, are exactly what led him to drag Pidge to the new mall downtown. He heard there would be a Disney store, which were very rare. The closest Disney store before was in the next town over, which took a two hour drive.

Besides, Lance needed a job. The mall was close to his college, and if he worked nearby it would be perfect. He was quickly losing money with all his little relatives coming to visit, especially with Halloween just around the corner. His family always threw a large Halloween party, and then they would all come back for Thanksgiving, and come back again for Christmas. It was a hectic time of year.

"Look! A fro-yo place. Altea. That's a cool name. It's got a help wanted sign. We should stop by there on our way back from the Disney Store," Lance grinned, pointing at the spot on the mall's map. Pidge sighed, picking at their fingernails, newly painted a light teal.

"Yeah yeah, but we should stop by that music place. Matt wants to get his boyfriend some cd for their sixth month anniversary," Pidge said with a roll of their eyes. "Can you believe it? Six fucking months and I still haven't met this mysterious guy. Matt says it's cause I'll scare him off."

"Well, won't you?" Lance questioned, scrunching his eyebrows.

"I mean, yeah, duh. I gotta make sure he's good enough for my brother. He should be coming around for Thanksgiving, though, so I'll meet him then," Pidge shrugged. They feigned a gag as Lance stopped walking to wink at a passing girl, who turned up her nose with a scoff.

"Disney store should be just around the corner, yes?" Lance looked away from Pidge and towards the different stores. Then, like an angel in the distance, Lance saw the large sparkly-red lettering of the Disney store.

"Hallelujah, am I right?" Lance strode into the shop, pausing to run a couple fingers over a Little Mermaid doll. Pidge shrugged, wandering towards the Star Wars section of the store. Lance let them be, knowing how much of a nerd they were for that stuff.

He wandered around, drifting about the store in search of the perfect toy for Angelique, his older sister's daughter. He knew she would be the first to visit, since his older sister (and Angelique's mother), Hana, was always early for every holiday.

He knew she liked the Little Mermaid and Mulan best. Personally, he preferred Mulan. He loved how tough she was, and how great all the songs were, even in the sequel. It was difficult, and he knew how picky Angelique was, so this would be interesting.

And in his moment of focus, he was extremely alarmed when the hot Disney worker approached him, with a soft-voiced, "May I help you with anything, sir?" At this, Lance jumped back a foot in the air, hitting the back of his head on the wall.

This was followed by a burning pain in the back of his head, and yet, when Lance looked at the Disney store worker, he had one singular thought, and decided it was a good idea to speak this thought aloud.

"You have a mullet,"

The worker looked confused, and a tad worried. "Uhm, yes. Is your head ok? I could maybe find some ice or something for it in the break room?"

Lance shook his head, resting his shoulder against the wall. "N-nah nah, man. I'm cool. Unlike you. You're-wait. Shit. No. That came out wrong," he began stuttering, because holy shit this guy was hot. "See, it was supposed to be like, uh, I'm cool, right? And you can't possibly be cool, cause you're really hot, get it? I mean-shit," he felt his face burn a bit, and he laughed nervously, not noticing the red tips of the worker's ears. "Just, ah, nevermind."

The worker takes a second to attempt to understand, which he apparently did not. "Uhm, right. I'm gonna pretend that I wasn't just insulted. Can I help you with anything?" He said.

Lance sighed, looking down at the guy's name tag. Keith. That was a nice name. "Sorry about that. It came out wrong, I swear. But, uh, yeah. I'm lookin for some Mulan kinda shit for my niece. She's flying in tomorrow for Thanksgiving and really loves Mulan. And Ariel. Do you have any good Ariel shit?" He asked, glancing over Keith's shoulder for Pidge.

It was as though Lance had summoned Pidge with his looking for the smaller nerd. They appeared next to him, as if they knew he was looking for them. "Lance, you shouldn't curse so much. It's a kid store, remember?" And it's not exactly empty," they turned to Keith. "Hi. Sorry about him. I'm Pidge. He's Lance. We're looking for Mulan or Ariel stuff for his niece,"

Keith nodded, a small smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. "Right. We just got a new Ariel doll? It's been pretty popular, so we've only got one left. If you tell your niece that, she'll think about how special and cool it is, I think. Wanna see it?" He seemed very invested in these dumb toys, and his hint of a smile had become an actual smile. Lance liked it.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," Lance smiled, nodding quickly. Keith quickly disappeared to find the doll. Lance immediately turned to Pidge.

"He's hot and I would like him very much," the tall boy said instantly after Keith left. Pidge made a face, groaning.

"You say that about everyone, you gay shit," they rolled their head back with an annoyed sigh.

"Hey! I'm not gay. I'm bi. How many times must I say this? Honestly, you're starting to become second in the smartness department," Lance winked, leaning his back against the nearest wall. "Plus, aren't we supposed to not be cursing in front of the tiny children?"

"Yeah! Cursing is bad. You shouldn't do it, mister. To make up for it, you should get your tall friend to grab that dolly for me, please?" A sudden, high pitched voice appeared, startling the two.

Pidge looked down, in search of the one who dared call them "mister," just to find a little boy, about 6 or 7. He was pretty small, with face painting of shapes all over his face, and a balloon sword in one hand and a balloon shield in the other.

"Oh, Uhm, hey there, bud! What's your name? I'm Lance. That's Pidge. They don't really like being called mister, so let's try not to do that. Also, which dolly? There are a lot, yknow," Lance grinned, squatting down to meet the boy's height.

The kid hid behind the balloon shield, peeking over the top before jumping up and putting a small fist to his chest. "I'm Klaizap, the bravest warrior! Klaizap would like the cute dolly with the sword. She's the coolest warrior princess!" He grinned, pointing with his sword at a Mulan doll.

Lance nodded. "Oh, yeah! Mulan's the coolest, isn't she? Here," he stood up straight, grabbing the doll and handing it to the boy, who shrieked in so much delight that he dropped his balloon weapons to hug the doll. "So, where's your mommy, bud?" Lance questioned, scanning the store for any potential mothers for Klaizap. (What kind of name was that, anyway? Maybe he made it up. Who knows? It was sorta cool.)

Klaizap shook his head. "My mommy isn't here right now. I'm here with Moontow and her mommies. Moontow is the best dancer in the world! She has a cool pink poofy skirt thing and she lets me wear it sometimes and I'm gonna marry her when we're grown up! Don't tell her, though. It's a surprise," the boy whispered the last part with a grin. Pidge smiled at that, looking up as Keith approached with a cute Little Mermaid doll in hand.

"Oh. Hey Kai-sorry, Klaizap. Where's your mom?" Keith said, glancing over at Lance and Pidge, who simply shrugged with a confused expression on their face. Klaizap groaned loudly with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"I just explained it to those misters! I came here with Moontow and her mommies. I dunno where they went, though," Klaizap frowned, then held up the doll. "But I wanna get this dolly. She's a warrior princess, and she's gonna kick Moontow's warrior princess in the butt!" The child giggled.

Keith nodded, taking a moment to register Klaizap's words. "Alright, well, come on over to the register and I'll go over the intercom to call Moontow and her mommies. I could also scan up your warrior princess if you want. Sound good?" Klaizap nodded, but pointed up at Lance.

"Could the tall mister give me the piggyback ride this time?" The little boy said, a toothy grin appearing on his face. Lance's eyes widened, and the grin that formed on his face was probably bigger than the kid's. Oh yes. He could do this.

Keith looked up at Lance, who was, frustratingly enough, about one or two inches taller. "Uh, I dunno. Gimme...a sec," he turned to Lance, talking a bit quieter so only he could hear. Pidge had bent down to explain to Klaizap that they didn't like being called a mister. "Sorry about Kai. You don't have to give him a piggyback ride. Maybe just say your ankle hurts or something?"

Lance shook his head instantly. "Nah nah, I got this" he patted Keith's shoulder, squatting down to reach down to Kai. "So, you want a Lance McClain Piggyback Ride?" The little boy nodded instantly, and soon he was scooped up by the tall man and was bouncing away towards the front register.

Soon enough, Moontow, also known as Mona, and her mommies showed up for Klaizap, or, Lance and Pidge found, Kai. The children and the two mommies left soon after, and it was Lance's turn at the register. He rested his elbows on the counter, and his chin on the palms of his hands.

"Sooo...I believe there is an Ariel doll I must pay for?" Lance smiled, standing up straight and rocking on his heels. Keith nodded, ringing the taller boy up. As he did this, Lance began to observe a few things about him. For one, he had a bit of a Resting Bitch Face™, which was a bit unnatural for a Disney store worker. Secondly, there was a half-empty cup of frozen yogurt from the shop across the way, which meant he probably liked the yogurt. Lance decided that was even more of a reason why he should try to get a job there. Keith's eyes were extremely pretty as well, a dark dark purple that you could easily get lost in-

"Lance! Jeez, are you even listening to me? Come on," it was Pidge, yelling at him.

"Oh, right, sorry," he grinned apologetically to both Pidge and Keith, who simply shrugged, shoving a small spoonful of yogurt into his mouth. Lance's back pocket buzzed, and he grabbed his phone. "Oh shit-Hello?" He picked up quickly, seeing as it was his sister.

"Yes, Penne...Alright, alright...what? But we just got here. I've only had time to get something from the Disney store. Remind me to tell you about that later by the way, cause the guy who works here is capital H...yeah, ok. Just gimme a sec to get an application for this fro-yo place...oh, yeah, hey Pidge?" He turned to them. "Mama says she's making dinner and wants to know if you're staying over. Hunk should be coming over too, if that helps" Pidge nodded, and he continued speaking with his sister, as Pidge spoke to Keith about Star Wars. Lance would never understand how Pidge managed to start nice conversations that quickly, but it will benefit him soon enough, if you just wait a while.

Lance hung up, pocketing his phone. "Alright, Pidgey, it's time to go. Penelope said Luci tried to cook again so we gotta get some burn medicine, popcorn, and we gotta rent a movie. Plus dinner should be ready by the time we get back," he turned around, wanting to maybe use a couple pick up lines on the hot cashier, but he was helping another customer. Lance shrugged, and Pidge and he walked outside the store, in search of a fro-yo application.

The man who worked at the Frozen Yogurt shop was named Coran. He was a funny man in his late 40s or early 50s, but he was athletic enough, with surprisingly quick reflexes. His hair was a bright orange, along with a matching mustache that reminded Lance of the Monopoly guy.

Coran definitely took a liking to Lance, and after talking with him for a little bit, he decided Lance would have a test run the next day at 1. Needless to say, Lance was excited. He made sure to ask about Keith, you know, the hot Disney Store worker from ten minutes ago? Coran mentioned he came about three times that day, twice for frozen yogurt, and once because Coran's niece (who-wasn't-actually-related-to-him-but-her-father-and-Coran-were-childhood-friends) was friends with Keith, and she also worked at the store.

Allura was a stunning beauty, with looks that almost killed Lance. Unfortunately, she had denied Lance very quickly, stating that she was extremely asexual. Then, as Lance and Coran spoke about work, Pidge and Allura had meaningful conversations about mice.

\---

**(11:55 PM)**  
**Pidgeyotto named the group chat, "Lance is too gay for that Disney Store Guy"**

(11:58 PM)  
Lance-A-Lot: excuse u I'm bi

(12:00 AM)  
Hunky Monkey: guys pls I just wanna sleep

also I would like to know everything about this Disney store guy

in the morning

pls


	2. Smiley Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while for this update! I had some trouble writing the chapter, and it's actually shorter than originally planned, but Lance spilled frozen yogurt on himself so it's ok. 
> 
> Also I'd like to thank everyone who left all the supportive comments, everyone who left kudos, and everyone who even glanced at this because it's just really nice and yeah! So thanks! 
> 
> Also just a warning there's mentions of sleep paralysis (just because the day I wrote that part I had gotten it and it fucking sUCKS) so there's a thing for ya. IF you don't know what sleep paralysis is Google it's because I barely know how to explain it.

(12:42 PM)  
Lance-A-Lot: do u guys hear that? 

its the sound of my unemployment fucking off 

also my sister bc she wanted to come too 

(12:43 PM)  
Pidgeyotto: dont forget the sound of ur whooped ass drooling over Keith 

(12:44 PM)  
Lance-A-Lot: excuse u 

I do not drool

I admire

(12:45 PM)  
Pidgeyotto: tell Allura hi for me 

Also u should try avoiding Keith today

Play hard to get ;) 

(12:49 PM)  
Hunky Monkey: NO DONT

ITS A TRICK 

DONT TRUST THEM

FLIRT UR ASS OFF BOI

(12:50 PM)  
Lance-A-Lot: I don't trust either of u 

but brb cause a certain handsome devil is gonna go get a job aND A DATE eventually 

(12:52 PM)  
Lance-A-Lot has left the chatroom

(1:00 PM)  
Pidgeyotto: good luck!! 

(1:02 PM)  
Hunky Monkey: I put 10 bucks and my X-Men 134 on Lance getting the number today 

I believe in my boi 

\---

Lance pocketed his phone, taking a deep breath as he approached Altea. His little sister, Penelope, stood next to him, checking her hair in the reflection of the glass. Penelope was extremely pretty, even for 14. She had bright brown eyes under long lashes, and curly, curly hair. Lance was very worried for when she got to high school. He would always whine to Hunk about how all the boys would be all over her, and he would have to beat them up, and then Penelope would get mad, and so on so forth. 

"Hey, could I drop by the Disney store? I wanna grab a present for Angelique," Penelope said, staring off in the direction of the Disney store. Lance could feel his stomach drop, and he took a few moments to think it over. He glanced at Altea, then the Disney store, then back to Altea, and then to where Penny was originally standing. She was now inside the Disney Store. 

Lance opened his mouth, about to call out to her, but then decided to drop it. He would have an excuse to go in there after his interview, since Penny usually took forever when choosing something to buy. 

Now, Lance figured that this interview would go by smoothly. Coran already seemed to like him–"Reminds me of me from back in the day, do you think, Princess?" An excerpt from the day before–and he figured it wouldn't be so hard to use a Frozen Yogurt Machine. 

He was right, more or less. The interview part ran by smoothly. The machines were simple, and Coran's instructions were helpful. At one point, Coran went to the bathroom and Allura helped Lance instead. Unfortunately, she was surprisingly aggressive and, dare I say, bossy, when it came to the machines. 

"No, no, you have to refill them like this! Be more delicate! Feel what the machine is feeling. Do you understand now?" Allura would cross her arms, asking if he understood even though it was clear he already figured out how they worked. It was exhausting, and needlessly complicated to do it Allura's way. On the plus side, her beautiful accent was soothing, even if she was yelling at him. 

He was soon freed, when the jingle of the bell near the door rang. Coran's head popped out of the back room, excited for a new customer. "Welcome to Altea! We have a special on anything pink!" He was apparently very excited about this special. 

Lance immediately recognized the mullet, and Disney Store uniform. His hand was cold. Why was his hand cold? This usually didn't happen. But, oh, someone was yelling at him, and he was shoved lightly aside, and though his hand was still cold, it was also less heavy. Lance looked down at his hand. A light blue mush covered his hand, which he raised to his mouth and licked. Hmm. Cotton candy. 

"Is there a bathroom? It seems I have something on my hand," he laughed lightly at his own, not-that-funny joke. Coran nodded, pointing towards the backroom. "Second door on the left," And Lance was off. 

\---

Strawberry was his favorite. His ultimate favorite. Nothing could top strawberry. Who doesn't like strawberry? Bad people, that's who. Hitler was probably a strawberry-hater. Good thing he's dead. 

Hitler aside, it is pretty clear Keith's favorite frozen yogurt (and basically anything in general) flavor was strawberry. And yet, he would only have it on special occasions. 

That morning, Keith woke up in a cold sweat, panting loudly. He wanted to get up. He wanted to stop breathing so loudly. His heart was drumming in his ears, as if it was right next to one ear, and his own breathing was by his other ear. Stop it! Why are you breathing so loudly? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you? 

He couldn't move, and after a few moments of panicking, he couldn't even breath. It wasn't until his cat entered the room that the pressure on his chest and throat disappeared, and he was finally able to get up. 

He had sat up, mumbling to his cat as she clambered into his lap. "I think it's a strawberry day," he whispered, stroking her fur slowly as he searched for his brother's name in his contacts. His finger hovered over the CALL button. It was it all caps. Why was that? Why was the phone so aggressive towards calls? And most other things as well? 

Yes. It was most definitely a strawberry day. 

Thus, here he was, lactose-intolerant, and extremely tired. And there he was. The flirty boy from the other day. Or was it yesterday? Keith couldn't remember. He had frozen-yogurt sloshing out of the machine. Why didn't he do anything? Wasn't it cold? Keith realized the boy was looking at him, and he averted his gaze, looking for a small cup. 

"Hey, Allura? You guys have strawberry, right?" 

The boy-what was his name?-asked about a bathroom.

"Yeah, just had our new guy refill it," she gestured to the boy. 

The boy had just walked into the back room. 

"Who is he, anyway? I think he came in the other day. Or yesterday. I can't remember," Keith poured some strawberry frozen yogurt into the cup, watching it slosh out of the machine. 

"His name is Lance." Allura's accent was nice. When she said Lance, it sounded a lot like Lonce. Lance was a nice name. "He's probably going to begin working here. Coran likes him" 

"I do! He's a good lad. Reminds me of me from back in the day," Coran grinned from where he sat at the register, cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief. 

If you ever notice, at malls, each individual store has its own music it plays. So, there's a music player somewhere, right? Originally, some of Coran's classical music was playing. It changed, very quickly and drastically. Soon all Keith could hear was some lady singing in Spanish? 

And the boy, Lance, was dancing his way out of the back room. "Coran! I didn't know you had Selena! I hope it's okay that I changed it. I can never resist some Bidi Bidi Bom Bom in my life," he winked at Allura, and she sighed, dramatically loudly. 

It was then that Keith noticed a few things. For one, he kept glancing at the boy, hoping he didn't notice him. Secondly, he put way too much frozen yogurt in his cup. He didn't wanna waste frozen yogurt, but there was no way he'd be able to finish all that yogurt. And he didn't wanna share with any of his co-workers. This was an issue, to say the least. He stood there, mumbling something about his current predicament. 

He decided to simply shrug it off, begrudgingly share the rest with a co-worker or something. He added a couple toppings, then walked towards the register, where Coran was helping Lance learn the basics. 

"Ah, excellent! You can practice with a customer. Go along then," Coran smiled, crossing his arms as he watched over them. 

Keith placed the cup on the scale. (If you didn't know, frozen yogurt places charge based on the weight of your purchase.) Lance pressed a few buttons, and Keith noticed how he stuck out his tongue whenever he did work of any kind. Earlier, with the machine, he had done it, and now with the register. 

"That'll be six dollars and ninety three cents, please," Lance said, looking down at Keith. He was about an inch taller. This was a bit irritating, and Keith didn't know why. 

Keith frowned, digging through his wallet, and pockets. He only had five dollars. 

"Ah, crap," he mumbled. Lance noticed, and plucked one of the spoons out of the container. He grabbed a big spoonful, and shoved it in his mouth, pressed a couple buttons, and, "Voila!" 

Lance's voice was muffled from the frozen yogurt, and he suddenly winced as he swallowed. "Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold," he whimpered. The price came out to five dollars and fifty four cents. Lance provided the fifty four cents out of his own wallet. 

"Ah, thanks.." he smiled lightly, looking up at him. The inch was still bothering him, but whatever. He seemed nice. Lance handed Keith a napkin. 

"You've got a little fro-yo on your hand there," he laughed. "Have a nice day," His cheeks were tinted pink as he swirled towards Coran. "How did I do? Am I getting the job? Did I do good?" He bombarded the man with question after question. 

Keith waved at Allura, and was soon on his way. He had already made it back to the Disney Store when he noticed the curvy handwritten numbers on his napkin, and under them, a neatly drawn smiley face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was told a while back that frozen yogurt I didn't actually perfectly fine for lactose intolerant people, so I edited the chapter. I will be writing the next one soon, but no promises for how soon it will be updated. I'm really stressed with school and it's getting to be annoying to do anything productive in general.


	3. Unofficial Cookie Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the boys have an unofficial cookie date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for waiting to update so long. Lots of school stress. It sucks

Lance liked to doodle during work. He would grab a sharpie and draw stars and suns on the napkins or spoons. Or anything he could get his hands on, really. Sometimes, if it was a really slow day, he would scribble his friends' names on the napkins, using either pretty cursive or plain chicken scratch. 

He liked to make small talk with costumers. Ask about their day, and go along with the local gossips. The usual, "how dare he? She doesn't deserve that. Get her to come around here one day, I'll convince her to drop his ass," and the classic, "No me diga!" with a dramatic gasp. He would giggle and gossip and offer advice. Coran loved it. Business had been booming since Lance joined. Customers loved him and would tell their friends, family, co-workers, whatever, about the charismatic Lance- from- Altea- you- know- the- frozen- yogurt -place? The- one- at- the- new- mall? Yeah- that's- it. 

The best part about the job was how much Keith the Disney Store guy loved strawberry frozen yogurt. He mentioned only eating it on special occasions, but he came by the frozen yogurt shop many, many times. Every time, Lance would rush to the register, scribbling his number down on either the frozen yogurt cup or a napkin with a neat smiley face. Sometimes he would add a speech bubble near the smiley face saying, "Call me!" or something along those lines. 

Keith never texted, though. Or called. Nothing. They only spoke at the shop, whenever Lance worked. Eventually the number disappeared, and it was just a smiley face, which soon turned into a little doodle of a cat. Soon that cat became a random little animal, changing each time. 

Keith never admitted it, but his favorite was when Lance drew a little turtle lying on his back, with a little, "Help!" thought bubble. 

"Why is it a thought bubble, and not a speech bubble?" Keith had questioned, laughing lightly as he gazed down at the napkin. 

"Animals can't speak English, and I'm pretty sure turtles don't make any noises, so he would be thinking it, not speaking," Lance had smiled, seemingly proud of his little explanation. 

The next day, Keith came into Altea without ordering anything. He walked up to the register where Lance sat, listening to music with only one earbud in. It had been a slow day, so he was skimming through a photography book for his art class. He gazed up when he realized someone was there. 

"Oh crap, sorry!" He laughed lightly. This was an obvious attempt at not sounding caught off guard. "Just put it on the scale..." he trailed off. "You don't have any fro-yo,"

"Yeah, I know," Keith shrugged. "I don't have much of a break today. It's pretty full over there. I just wanted you to know that I googled it, and turtles apparently don't have vocal cords, but they do make noises like grunting and stuff. So your little thinking turtle was actually kinda accurate," 

"O-oh," Why was everything so hot? Lance could feel a droplet of sweat on his forehead. "Really? That's actually kind of disappointing. I've always wanted a talking turtle," he laughed. 

Lance took a few moments to think. "Uhm, hey...I get off of work in like an hour. Would you wanna stop by that cookie shop in front of Hot Topic and grab a snack?" This was nerve wracking.

After Keith never texted, Lance decided he wasn't interested, and had given up in his pursuits. But they had always made small talk. They joked around a lot. Lance thought this was probably a good thing, especially considering how cold Keith was towards most others. 

Lance noticed these things about him. The way he sounded indifferent and monotonous when talking to anyone else near his age, yet he was kind around children, like the little boy from the past couple weeks. Keith seemed more comfortable with Lance, though. And Lance liked that. A lot. 

Keith's eyes seemed to widen a bit. He thought about it, then tapped the side of the nearest frozen yogurt cup with two fingers. "I get off a little bit afterwards, so do you wanna meet at the cookie place?" He glanced down at the cup he was tapping, then back up at Lance, who nodded quickly. 

"Yeah, sounds good" Keith smiled briefly before walking back to the Disney Store. Lance was soon told that he looked kinda creepy, smiling so wide. 

The hour felt like a year. Lance was tired and bored out of his mind, and just wanted a god damned cookie. He couldn't keep himself from thinking about Keith's brief smile. Lance made it a personal goal to let himself see that smile more often. In a platonic way, of course. 

Ever since Lance decided Keith wasn't interested in that way, he had begun drooling over a pretty girl with dyed pink hair named Florona, who had very pretty makeup skills and bright blue eyes. She worked at a tattoo place in front of the cookie place with a guy named Rolo, who had a sharp nose and bandages around part of one arm. Lance was about eighty seven point nine percent sure he didn't actually need those five dollars to fix his phone, and that Hunk must have a good reason for disliking him, but he was a nice guy. 

"Lance?" A beautiful voice brought the boy out of his thought bubble. "Your shift's over, I'm pretty sure" Allura wiped her hands on her skirt. Lance practically jumped out of the register corner. "Thanks Allura. Bye!" He rushed out of the frozen yogurt shop, then stopped, and walked back in to grab his bag. "See ya" he began his walk to the cookie shop.

Lance didn't know what kind of cookie Keith would want. He got himself a small peanut butter one and two slices of cookie cake. He would give the other slice to Keith, since that was probably a safe bet. He ate his peanut butter cookie quickly, so Keith wouldn't know that he had an extra cookie. 

"You'll choke if you keep stuffing your face," a voice giggled nearby. A boy with a black mullet and very pretty eyes who had a beautiful but rare smile sat down in front of Lance. 

Lance swallowed the cookie, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I got you a slice of cookie cake though." 

"Oh, thanks," Keith began fishing for his wallet, "how much?" 

"Psh, no need. I'm a nice guy, yknow," Lance waved a hand dismissively. 

"Right, nice guy. Thanks" he took a small bit of the cookie and nibbled on it quietly. This was a bit strange for him. He wasn't used to seeing Lance outside of the frozen yogurt shop or the Disney store. He dressed differently. No pastel green apron, which was kind of unnecessary anyway, since Lance only really sat at the register, but Allura said it looked nice, so he supposed it was just there for the aesthetic. Lance still had his work shirt on though, including a little nametag that scrawled Lance's name in little curvy letters. 

Keith was the opposite. He hated his work clothes (he thought they looked like flight attendant outfits), so he would always go into the nearest bathroom and change into comfortable clothes. This included his always-available fingerless gloves, which, when Lance glanced down and noticed them, were apparently extremely funny. 

Keith raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. "Uh, I don't understand? What's so funny?" He thought for a moment that his words had gone in one ear and out the other, but soon Lance stopped his giggles to explain that Keith looked, "ridiculously edgy," 

"Fingerless gloves and a mullet," Lance whispered, falling back into a fit of giggles. These giggles were interrupted by a quick buzzing sound. More buzzing. A couple more buzzes followed until Lance realized it was his phone making the buzzes. 

Lance groaned loudly, grabbing his phone from his pocket. He looked up at Keith. "You don't mind? I'll reply real quick then put it on do not disturb," But Keith was nibbling softly on his cookie. He shrugged, looking indifferent. 

\---

(1:27 P.M.)   
What-A-Hunk: Hey lance im rly sorry but I totally forgot I have a date with Shay tonight so I cant make it to fight nite

What-A-Hunk: sry I promise I'll make up for it! 

What-A-Hunk: I'll make u a billion cookies

\---

"Aw shit man," Lance sighed. Keith raised an eyebrow, questioning. "See, me and my buddy Hunk always go to this arcade and we like to call it 'Fight Night.' We don't actually fight but we like go against each other in stuff and make bets on stuff we have, like comics or doing the other's dirty laundry for a few weeks. It's pretty fun but he just canceled on me for his girlfriend," Lance sighed. 

Keith glanced to the side, then continued nibbling on his cookie. "That thucks," he mumbled through the cookie. 

"Yeah," Lance sighed, then, his eyes twinkled, and he smiled widely. And this is the point of the story where things will begin to go more uphill in their friendship. If you enjoy that, continue reading, dear friend, but be warned. They will continue to grow closer as friends, and then, the angst will begin. Be prepared, dear reader. 

"This may be sudden, since it's our first time hanging out, but I've already got sixty-seven dollars worth of arcade tokens, so? What do you think?" Lance grinned so wide Keith found himself wondering if that hurt. He ran through in his head if he had any plans. He didn't think he had any. 

"Uh..I guess? Sure. Uh, just a warning, though, I've only ever gone to an arcade like twice, with my brother, so yknow," 

"Oh don't worry about it. We'll do a few practice games and then make bets later," Lance winked, raising his hands for finger guns, which made Keith laugh, which made Lance melt internally. This boy was so adorable. Lance couldn't comprehend it. 

"Alright, so, we could go after we finish our cookies, if you want? Unless you have anything you gotta do. I was gonna go with hunk after work but, yknow," Lance grinned sheepishly. Did you know, dear reader, that Keith had the prettiest eyelashes Lance had ever seen? And when he blinked, they fluttered, and it seemed like slow motion almost. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. Sounds good," Keith seemed to be thinking about something, as he looked at Lance intently, sort of...was he squinting? 

"Do I have something on my face?" Lance chuckled, putting a hand on his cheek to see if he had any crumbs on it. Keith's eyes widened, and he shook his head quickly, averting those eyes down to his cookie. 

"You're fine," he mumbled. 

Lance found this...strange? To say the least. He shrugged it off, taking a bite of his cookie. 

They chatted, talking about this and that. Keith talked about his motorcycle (did you know that he had a motorcycle? What a fuckin nerd. Lance found it adorable). Lance talked about school (yikes). Lance also tried his best to make Keith laugh whenever he could, because Keith's laugh was like a siren song for Lance. He could listen to it all day. Also his voice. Lance found it therapeutic, as if he was listening to an audiobook by Keith about Keith. Keith also had a habit of getting really excited while talking about what he was interested in. It was adorable. 

"Lance? Shouldn't we get going?" You said your arcade place opens at like three-ish right? It's two-thirty," Keith waved a hand in front of Lance's face, giggling slightly. Was he giggling? That-that is so cute. Lance was gonna be drowned in cuteness by the end of the day. He is a blessed boy to be anywhere near this adorable boy. 

"Oh, shit, yeah. We should get going. Cmon," Lance stood. They had already thrown away their trash a while back, wasting the rest of their time talking. Lance grabbed Keith's hand, walking quickly towards the parking lot of the mall. 

"My motorcycle is just over here, Lance. When we're done I can drive you back here and you can get your car, sound good?" Keith offered, pointing at the nearby motorcycle. It was red. What a nerd. 

"Uh, well, see, uh," Lance stuttered for a bit, too prideful to admit that if he got on that bike, he would die. 

"I've been riding for, like, forever, yknow? You should be safe," Keith added, squeezing Lance's hand gently. Woah. This boy would absolutely be the death of him. Lance felt his face flush, and he stuttered out a weak, "O-okay," because Lance decided he trusted this beautiful, beautiful boy. 

Keith let go of Lance's hand to look for a spare helmet that he could've sworn was right there, oh, there it is. Lance felt his hand grow cold as the warmth from Keith's hand disappeared. 

"Ok, here you go. Just put it on and climb on," Keith patted the spot behind him. Directly behind him. Yikes. Lance put on his helmet, a small feeling inside him guessing that when he took this off, he would be hot and sweaty and icky. That, he wasn't looking forward to. He was looking forward to sitting extremely close to Keith in a situation where Keith would not see him blush. 

The ride started out smooth. Lance explained where the arcade was, and Keith figured out it was across the street from some video game store he used to go to, and they began exiting the parking lot. Lance figured, it was chill. Nothing too fast or scary. And then...

Keith dove into the oncoming traffic and Lance held onto Keith tightly, hands wrapped fully around his torso in fear for his life. This was way too fast. Lance was gonna die. Tell his family he loved them. Tell Hunk this is his fault. Tell Pidge to get a plant to live in his memory. Tell Allura that he knows it will be difficult to move on, but she can be strong. Tell- 

"Lance? We've stopped. We're here," Keith had taken off his helmet. His hair was sweaty and stuck to his forehead and neck. He was smiling down at Lance, who was hunched over, holding onto Keith a bit more gentle than before. 

Lance sat up straight, letting go quickly. He took off his helmet and basically leaped off of the bike. 

"Never put me in that devil machine ever again," Lance whimpered. Keith laughed, walking up to him and patting the top of his head. 

"I promise I won't. Until it's time for us to go back," he smiled. "Ready to go inside, or do you still need some coping time?" 

Lance felt like curling up into a ball and contemplating existence, but Keith had smiled and laughed about three times in the last two minutes, so this might have been a win. 

After about a minute of Lance realizing that he was indeed alive, the two walked into the arcade, Lance beaming. A large neon sign sat on the wall next to them, reading, "Arus" 

"Welcome, to Arus. A planet of pretty much every awesome arcade game known to man. The line for PAC-Man is usually pretty full of twelve year olds, so we can avoid that. Other than that, we should be good," he beamed at Keith, "What do you think?" 

Keith looked around, then pointed somewhere behind Lance. "I think that girl is walking towards us," 

A pretty girl with two long blonde ponytails and bangles on her upper arms was approaching the two. Lance squeaked, turning to Keith quickly. 

"Ok, so, that's my ex, Nyma. She's evil. She's worse than your evil motorcycle. Can you pretend to be my boyfriend for like two minutes?" 

This would surely work out well, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made sure this chapter was longer, and I like to think it's better quality than the past ones. Lots of pining Lance. I also like the idea of mermaids from the depths ep + rolo and nyma? Like they're all buds? Idk. 
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it'll be worth it ;0

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is professorwallaby (also artbulbs but that's pretty much just art) in case anyone has questions or tips about the fic or if you just wanna talk :)
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, and I'm really tired.


End file.
